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Devin PowellProfessor GingerichBlaw 104 C6 September 2016

Cruel and Unusual PunishmentOvercrowding, greenhouse gas emissions, and poor living conditions are all links

connected to climate change but not by the common factors thought of by myriad people. Most would add additional commentary concerning the role of automobiles, planes, factories, and pollution being the primary subjects of blame in today’s society. Little do people know, however, that factory farming is actually responsible for eighteen percent of the greenhouse gases around the world. Only thirteen percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are from transportation despite it being our number one answer (Meat the Truth, 2011). Although its size is relatively small, the Netherlands actually produces the most greenhouse gases in the world at seventy billion kilos through the excretion of cows (Meat the Truth, 2011). Trees play a substantial role in absorbing and converting this carbon dioxide successfully into oxygen for us human beings to breath. According to Dr. Danielle Nierenberg from the World Watch Institute in Washington, D.C., trees are continuously being cut down in the Amazon Rainforest in order to produce and plant soy, hence why Brazil has dominated the soy market across the world (Meat the Truth, 2011). The forest is torn down in order to buttress factory farming operations, which needs the soy in order to feed its over-abundant number of livestock, but not to feed the billions of people on the earth (Meat the Truth, 2011). These problems will continue to corrupt, disrupt, and interrupt our once stable and globally healthy world with the continuity of politics, corporations, and governments covering up this ever-pressing issue while the problem continues to rise and action against it seems to remain stagnant.

The issue concerning factory farming as being correlated with global warming was first discovered in the year 2006 by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in an article written by Dr. Henning Steinfeld (Meat the Truth, 2011). One of the many reasons why factory farming is a large and prominent dynamic in climate change throughout the world is the process by which the “farming” is actually carried out. Factory farming has displaced the small family farm business in vast quantities. In the span of 61 years, two million family hog farms have been destroyed to make room for agribusiness (Meat the Truth, 2011). Two million. Why is this happening? One reason is that agribusiness allows mass production to occur, which outputs more meat in less time, thus saving money and time in the economic process. Family farms were usually family oriented and therefore did not have the workforce capacity, nor the farm capacity to output what industrial agriculture has been able to accomplish in the past decade.

Another reason for the boom in this business as opposed to family farming is the benefits that come with being a factory farmer. Howard Lyman was a factory farmer for 45 years before he left the business after a growth on his spine paralyzed him from the waist down (Meat the Truth, 2011). He then became a vegan, which means that he does not consume or use any animal products, along with his wife and has since worked towards warning and spreading awareness of the awful conditions, treatments, and effects that contract farming has had on us as people who unknowingly participate in the advancement of the business and the impact it has made on the environment over the years. He stated that he was not able to realize what he was doing, the pain and suffering he was causing animals, until his injury. How could someone not realize it? Well, factory farmers often find themselves able to save on a considerable amount of capital through

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the process of contract farming. The farms require less land because animals are squished and packed together so tightly in small barns/buildings that take up less space than if the animals were to roam and graze freely (List of Top 19 Factory Farming Pros and Cons, 2015). With this in mind, it is more convenient and a better way to save money in today’s economy if farmers simply “go with the flow” and factory farm. The profitability from it is not too bad, either.

What is bad, what is awful, what is horrendous, though, is the overwhelming amount of animal cruelty that takes place in these businesses. Many may think that it is only farming, so it cannot possibly be bad for the animals or that we need animals and meat in order to sustain our health and get all of our nutrients. This is not the case at all. Peter Dinklage, a famous American actor, sided with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and ran a nearly four minute campaign showing people what really happens inside of these farms—these concentration camps for animals. The video shows graphic images of piglets having their tails cut off and teeth removed as soon as they arrive without any anesthetic (Face Your Food, 2014). It also demonstrates the use of gestation and farrowing crates, both used for female pigs. The gestation crate is a small crate the female pig goes into while pregnant. The crate is not sufficiently large for her to turn around, merely lie down, and stand up. A farrowing crate has the same features; the only difference is that there is another crate attached to it that allows her piglets to drink her milk (see google.com). After they reach their desired growth, they are then slaughtered and gutted—some while still conscious, or sentient, and in the view of other pigs (Face Your Food, 2014). Pigs are not the only ones to suffer this horrible treatment.

Big name industries have also found themselves under attack for the treatment of their animals used for meals. Kentucky Fried Chicken is one example that has undergone countless amounts of scrutiny for the mistreatment of their chickens. There are more than 750 million chickens that are raised and bred in factory farms per year for KFC alone (What KFC is Doing to Chickens, 2008). These chickens are definitely not raised with care as they undergo a painful process of having their beaks cut off hours after they are hatched, making it difficult for them to eat for weeks and sometimes even killing the birds (What KFC is Doing to Chickens, 2008). They are also given steroids and pills to help them grow faster so that they may be “ripe for the picking” much faster than the average growth of a chicken. However, with this rapid growth comes consequences. They develop in a way that makes their tops so heavy that their legs can no longer support them and then break. To make matters worse, when the chickens are then chosen for slaughter, they are slammed into crates, usually causing them to have more broken bones and wings (What KFC is Doing to Chickens, 2008).

Of course, KFC denied that it was actually doing any of this and insisted that it treats its birds with proper care. Only six years after making this statement, an undercover PETA investigator revealed disturbing footage of workers “slamming live animals into walls, stomping up and down on them, kicking them across the room, and tearing them apart” in a slaughterhouse in West Virginia (What KFC is Doing to Chickens, 2008). This caused another uproar for KFC and how it treats its chickens Once again, KFC released a statement in May 2001 stating that it was going to do better (What KFC is Doing to Chickens, 2008).

One other example does not even come from within the United States. It hails from the southwest of France where geese are killed by the masses for a famous French dish, foie gras. When the goslings first arrive, they go through a conveyor belt where employees pick them up and inspect them. If the goslings are found to be downed, meaning that they cannot stand on their own or are injured in some way, they are rejected and tossed into a chute to their deaths. Once

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the strong are chosen, they are then force fed in order to gain weight quickly and be ready for the process of slaughter faster (Force Feeding Geese for Foie Gras, 2012).

As populations get richer, meaning that they grow larger in size, they consume more and more animal products. This occurs in order to compensate for the abundance of new mouths to feed, as opined by Dr. John Powles (Meat the Truth, 2011). Dr. Powles works in the Public Health and Primary Care in England through the University of Cambridge and wants to spread further knowledge about the harms of increased meat consumption. He states that “China is the biggest increaser in meat consumption” and has seen a doubling in this consumption every ten years (Meat the Truth, 2011). The average person consumed 100 pounds of meat in 2014 and this number is expected to continue to rise in the years to come (Meat-hooked and the End of Water, 2015). Factory farming has managed to infect the world, Brazil especially. Brazil is the second largest producer of meat, only behind the United States (Meat-hooked and the End of Water, 2015). It is responsible for the deforestations of two-thirds of the Amazon Rainforest to make way for these factories. This has also cost them 1800 gallons of water and left only 30% of the land for other businesses, housing, parks, etc. Sao Paulo has been lacking so much water that some of the citizens have conducted demonstrations to protest the industrial agriculture happening around them (Meat-hooked and the End of Water, 2015).

These factories are not only taking water, but they are also taking the waste, the excrement, the raw shit for lack of a better word, and draining it into lagoons that have the tendency to leech into rivers and other water sources that eventually lead into populated places that then drink this water (Meat-hooked and the End of Water, 2015). This can cause all sorts of health issues, including, but not limited to, severe diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, and vomiting (Drinking Water from Lakes Rivers or Streams Can Cause Diarrhea, 2015). On top of water being a concern for many, there is also the issue with processed foods from industrial agriculture. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) through the World Health Organization (WHO) has been able to determine that processed meat can actually cause cancer (World Health Organization Says Processed Meat Causes Cancer accessed from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/world-health-organization-says-processed-meat-causes-cancer, 2015). If health is such an important and prominent part of our lives, then factory farming should have been stopped years ago. It should not have been able to progress to the peak that it has amounted to—yet it has.

When water is used in contract farming, the amount is unreal. PETA claims that “[t]he Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that animal agriculture is the number one cause of water pollution” further backing the earlier statement that the pollution comes from the feces of the livestock (35 Mind-Shattering Facts Linking Factory Farming to Climate Change accessed from http://www.peta.org/features/meat-climate-change/). There is also the concern for carbon dioxide emissions that surmount that of cars, planes, and other gas-guzzling toys humans have. It is found that “factory farms are 70 times more damaging per ton to the earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide” because of the amount of methane gas that is released from cows and other gases emitted from various animals on the factory farms (How Factory Farming Contributes to Global Warming accessed from http://www.ecowatch.com/how-factory-farming-contributes-to-global-warming-1881690535.html, 2013). Concerning methane, “[f]actory farming accounts for 37%” of these emissions, which never seems to be spoken of in media outlets, from politicians, or simply spoken aloud for the world to hear (11 Facts about Factory Farms and the Environment accessed from https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-factory-farms-

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and-environment). Instead, it is hidden from us so that we may be kept in the dark and continue to allow the big corporations to fill their pockets with our money.

“65% of nitrous oxide emissions… [are because of the] fertilizers used to grow the genetically engineered corn and soy [that is] fed to animals raised in CAFOs” or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (How Factory Farms Affect Global Climate accessed from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/03/12/factory-farms-affect-global-climate.aspx, 2013). What is amazing and difficult to grasp is how global this problem is, and the lack of coverage for such a topic. In Canada, the increase in greenhouse gases has risen by 25% since 1990 and, once again, not from cars or other products that are often labeled as being the key sources of this (Beyond Factory Farming accessed from http://www.beyondfactoryfarming.org/get-informed/environment/climate-change). It is from agribusiness.

Animals that are kept in CAFOs are not able to function as normal animals. Instead, they rely on humans for the basic necessities of life such as food, water, and shelter. They are not able to free range, but on Salatin Farms, they are. Animals use a process called rotational grazing where the animals are kept in constant rotation from one patch of grass to the next, allowing the grass to grow after being eaten (Meat-hooked and the End of Water, 2015). It is a lengthy process that involves multiple animals all helping one another using their natural instincts. Animal welfarists would say that this is the proper way to go about having a farm. The farm treats the animals with care, unlike KFC claims, and treats them as though they are their pets, not simply a means for a meal. Animal activists, however, may say that although the treatment is nice, the animals on the farm are still going to suffer death, which they should not have to involuntarily. Vegans would then agree with this point of view. They do not use or eat any animal products. A vegetarian, however similar, allows themselves to sometimes eat fish but no meat.

Farm Sanctuary is a nonprofit organization based in the United States in New York and California. There are two locations in California and one in New York (Farm Sanctuary: Caring for Our Planet (Interview with Gene Baur) accessed from http://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol9/iss1/6, 2015). This organization has set out to “expose the extent and level of cruelty shown toward animals” that find themselves helpless and afraid in factory farms and slaughterhouses across the world (Farm Sanctuary: Caring for Our Planet (Interview with Gene Baur) accessed from http://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol9/iss1/6, 2015). The owner claims that they are “not anti-business” but they are “anti-cruelty” and that is why they have constructed their sanctuaries (Farm Sanctuary: Caring for Our Planet (Interview with Gene Baur) accessed from http://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol9/iss1/6, 2015). They want to have a place where animals are able to be kept in more traditional, family farm business ways and treated with care, just as the Salatin Farms treat their animals.

To help regulate factory farming, the US can employ more open campaigns and firmer laws. It should not be up to the citizens to inform themselves of these acts of cruelty and to begin initiatives to end the inhumane treatment of said animals. People should feel ethically responsible to tell others of what is happening, otherwise what, then, is the purpose of ethics and of teaching it in schools on a global scale? “Ethics are the generally accepted rules of conduct that govern society” yet ethics seem to have no meaning or place where agribusiness is concerned (Jennings, 2012). There are people everywhere constantly making ethical choices and decisions. Lyn White for Animals Australia makes a bold and well-spoken statement that says, “[w]e’re not supposed to know because those companies can only exist if they’re hidden from

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public view” (Make It Possible-How to End Factory Farming, 2012). It should be our duty, our responsibility, as leaders, as citizens, and as human beings with a conscience to put an end to this cruel and unusual punishment. And it is not only the animals who are receiving this—we are too. We are slowly killing ourselves by allowing factory farming to continue.

In order to hold these factories accountable for their cruel and unusual practices, we need to become more aware of this problem in a society as a whole. It cannot be fought in pieces and by individuals. Rulers did not conquer abundancies of land by themselves but rather with armies standing behind them, supporting them. In 2001, the World Bank released a statement concerning new strategies for using livestock that limits factory farming. They stated that they wanted to make it a more “people-centered approach” because of the awful environmental impacts it has been advocating (Factory Farming in the Developing World accessed from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/534, 2003). The Worldwatch Institute also claims that Western European nations “have among the strongest environmental regulations in the world” and does not permit factory farming because much of the practices it involves break their guidelines (Factory Farming in the Developing World accessed from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/534, 2003).

In conclusion, industrial agriculture must absolutely, at all costs possible to humanity, be stopped. It is putting our world, our beloved Mother Earth, in ruins. Her precious animals are being vigorously slaughtered and abused for mere consumption by human beings. It is time that this cruel and vicious cycle just to have meat be a prominent factor in our meals and lives is ended. It is not necessary for human survival, especially not in the amounts that we consume on average in a year. Science has shown nothing bad or detrimental toward a person’s health if they discontinue their meat consumption. So since humans are against cruel and unusual punishment towards one another, why can they not be against it when it pertains to humans inflicting this upon animals?

I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others’ use of unauthorized aid.

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References11 Facts About Factory Farms and the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved 06 September 2016 from

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-factory-farms-and-environment. Beyond Factory Farming. (n.d.). Retrieved 06 September 2016 from

http://www.beyondfactoryfarming.org/get-informed/environment/climate-change. Bottle, Fit. (2015). Drinking Water From Lakes Rivers or Streams Can Cause Diahrrea.

Retrieved 06 September 2016 from https://www.fitbottle.com/fitblog/diarrhea-from-lake-river-stream-water.

Cummins, Ronnie. (2013). How Factory Farms Affect Global Climate. Retrieved 06 September 2016 from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/03/12/factory-farms-affect-global-climate.aspx.

Cummins, Ronnie. (2013). How Factory Farming Contributes to Global Warming. Retrieved 06 September 2016 from http://www.ecowatch.com/how-factory-farming-contributes-to-global-warming-1881690535.html.

Farm Sanctuary: Caring for our Planet (Interview with Gene Baur). (2015). The Journal of Values-Based Leadership: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol9/iss1/6.

Force Feeding Geese for Foie Gras. (2012). Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VTszmulAAY&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_VTszmulAAY&has_verified=1. Retrieved 06 September 2016.

Google. Accessed from https://www.google.com/search?q=what+are+farrowing+crates&ie=&oe=. Retrieved 06 September 2016.

Google. Accessed from https://www.google.com/search?q=what+are+farrowing+crates&ie=&oe=#q=what+are+gestation+crates. Retrieved 06 September 2016.

Jennings, Marianne M. (2012). Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment, Tenth Edition, pp. 28.

List of Top 19 Factory Farming Pros and Cons. (2015). Retrieved 06 September 2016 from http://greengarageblog.org/list-of-top-19-factory-farming-pros-and-cons.

Make It Possible-How to End Factory Farming. (2012). Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dc13Kd6cfs. Retrieved 06 September 2016.

Meat the Truth. (2011). Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHCCFjB8M48. Retrieved 06 September 2016.

Nierenberg, Danielle. (2003). Factory Farming in the Developing World. Retrieved 06 September 2016 from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/534.

PETA (n.d.). 35 Mind-Shattering Facts Linking Factory Farming to Climate Change. Retrieved 06 September 2016 from http://www.peta.org/features/meat-climate-change/.

Peter Dinklage: Face Your Food. (2014). Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKWKUU0XQ8U. Retrieved 06 September 2016.

Simon, Stacy. (2015). World Health Organization Says Processed Meat Causes Cancer. Retrieved 06 September 2016 from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/world-health-organization-says-processed-meat-causes-cancer.

The Vice, HBO. Meat-hooked and the End of Water. (2015). Accessed 01 September 2016. What KFC is Doing To Chickens. (2008). Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=8dc13Kd6cfs. Retrieved 06 September 2016.

I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others’ use of unauthorized aid.

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I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others’ use of unauthorized aid.